Calling device for telephone-exchanges



(No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet I.

A. E. KEITH 85 J. & O. J. ERIGKSON. CALLING DEVICE FOR TELEPHONEEXGHANGEE.

Patented Jan. 11,1898.

NVENTORS: QMMM 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

A. E. KEITH 86 J. 85 C. J. ERIGKSON. GALLING DEVICE FOR TELEPHONEEXCHANGES.

No. 597,062. Patented Jan. 11, 1898.

(No Model.)

\wTNEssEs;

UNITED; STATES PATENr Orricn,

ALEXANDER KEITH, JOHN ERICKSON, AND CHARLES J. ERICKSON, OF

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNORS TO THE STROW'GER AUTOMATIC TELE- PHONEEXCHANGE, OF ILLINOIS.

CALLING DEVICE FOR TELEPHONE-EXCHANGE8.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 597,062, dated January1 l, 1898.

Application filed August 20, 1895! Serial No. 603,320. {No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Beitknown that we,ALEXANDER E. KEITH, Join: ERICKSON, and CHARLES J.ERIoKsoN, citizens of the United States, residing at Chicago, in thecounty of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and usefulAutomatic Calling Device for Telephone-EX- changes, of which thefollowing is a specification.

Cur invention relates to means for transmitting electrical impulses overa plurality of lines by means of a step-by-step circuitbreaker andacircuit-changer and which may be employed incombination with automatictelephone-exchange systems, whereby a person at one station mayintermittently energize a plurality of electromagnets, one at a time,alternately or in some other desired order at some distant station; andour object is to provide a construction for this purpose which consistsof a series of movable fingerholds of which some one is moved up to astop and then released, there being an indicator connected therewith toshow which one of a plurality of electroinagnets is in connection withthe line-wires. The finger-holds are disposed in this instance incircular order-concentric with a shaft, which latter is adapted torevolve by the action of a finger engaged with some one of the holds andoperating against the resiliency of a spring, which latter is wound up adifferent amount for the movement of each finger-hold, and when anyparticular finger-hold has been moved up to a stop and then released thetension of the spring causes the parts to return to the normal position,limited by an escapement mechanism to a moderate rate of speed, andcauses a switch in this return movement to serve as a medium throughwhich an intermittent cur rent of electricity is transmitted through aparticular one of a plurality of wires, each connected to a motor-magnetto be energized, as maybe desired, and as is described hereinafter andillustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a frontelevation showing the parts which are ordinarily visible when applied toan automatic telephone-exchange system. Fig. 2 is an inside or rearelevation showing the greater part of the switching apparatus. Fig. 3 isa plan showing the operative parts in the same relative position asindicated in Figs. 1 and 2. Fig. 4 is an elevation of the front casewith a portion broken away to show method of applying indicator fordesignating the particular magnet being energized. Fig. 5 is a frontelevation showing the finger-hold plate and magnet-indicator as theyappear when the front case is removed. Fig. 6 is a plan of the hollowactuating-shaft, the pivoted support therefor, which is part of theframe of the device, being broken away; but the finger-hold plate andthe escapementwheel, which are attached to the actuating-shaft,- and themagnet-indicator and the segment of cogs for operatin g themagnet-indicator are all shown in elevation, the shaft connecting themagnetindicator and segment of cogs for operating the same being shownin broken lines concentric with the actuating-shaft, through which it isdisposed and in which it partially rotates. Fig. 7 shows, respectively,a rear elevation and a plan of the combined escapement andswitch-actuating wheel, which when in the operative position is firmlyattached to the inside end of the actuating-shaft. Fig. 7 also shows anactuating-pawl pivotally mounted in a bracket, which latter is securedupon the escapement-wheel. Fig. 8 is a rear elevation of the frame inwhich the rear end of the actuating-shaft is pivotally mounted and tothe side of which is pivotally mounted a detent, which is hereinafterreferred to. Figs. 9 and i0 are respectively an elevation and a plan ofthe pallets of an escapement device, which are also shown in Fig. 2 inengagement with a series of pins near the periphery of theescapement-wheel. Figs. 11 and 12 are de- Fig. 1st is a diagrammaticview showing the connection between the calling device and the magnetsof an automatic telephone-exchange, together with the usual battery andground connections.

Similar letters indicate like parts throughout the several views.

In Figs. 1 and 2 the mechanism is shown mounted on a door A, which mayform the cover or front of a shallow box to contain the mechanism shownin Fig. 2 when the door is closed.

As shown in Fig. (5, the hollow shaft B is mounted to revolve in ametallic bearing B, which forms a bushing disposed centrally through thebox-lid A, the hollow shaft terminating at the front end at B and at theinside end at 13 At the front end of shaft 13 is firmly secured the disk0, around one side of which, near the margin, are disposed tenprojections or linger-holds, such as U, and beginning at the bottom eachfinger-hold is designated by a different numeral from 1 to X, inclusive,in arithmetical order.

Close to door A, near the inside face thereof, is securely mounted on,shaft B a wheel D,

Fig. 7, and the outer end of shaft B projectsthrough a hole E in frameE, Fig. 8.

Between frame E and wheel D is a volute spring F, which is attached atone end to a pin at E near the lower end of frame E,

the spring being partially wound up to hold wheel D and the finger-holddisk 0 in the non mal position shown, with the stop-bracket D of wheel Dagainst an adjustable stop-screw D in .a lug attached to frame E, Figs.3 and 7.

lVheel D is provided with a series of pins G, disposed at equaldistances apart, near the peripheral edge thereof, which servea doublepurpose, first, by engaging with the pallets H and H in one direction oftheir movement, which is limited thereby, and for operating a switch Iagainst a pin 1 which is connected with battery J. The pallets and theswitch form the main part of what we shall call a step-by-stepcircuit-breaker.

The pallets H and H are both pivotally mounted upon the same pin, andpallet H is provided with an arm, to which a weight 1-1 is attached, andwith a spring H which holds a prolongation of pallet I-I against a pin Hso that in action when the pin-wheel D is turned in the directionindicated by arrow 7 the pins Gr will press the end of pallet Hdownwardly and the prolongation up from pin H of pallet H and bendspring H downwardly without disturbing the other pallet or its weight Hbut when wheel D is turned in the direction contrary to that indicatedby arrow '7 pins G will contact the inside face of pallet H and force itdownwardly and cause the prolongation thereof to contact pin H" andvibrate pallet H, together with the weight H upwardly, when pallet H iscontacted successively by pins G, which are successively retarded intheir movement by the rapidity of the vibrations of the pallets, whichvibrations may-be easily changed in speed by shifting the weight H" onthe arm of pallet 11. The amplitude of the vibration of the pallets islimited by pins H which are contacted by the weight-arm of pallet H. atthe limits of movement.

The switch-arm I is attached to a boss I", which is pivotally mounted ona pin and is electrically connected with frame E. Attached also to bossI is an arm 1 whose free end is shaped, as shown in Fig. 13, so that thepins G will vibrate it in a direction to cause switch-arm I to move frompin 1 which latter is connected with battery J, Fig. 14, when wheel D isturned in. the direction indicated by arrow 7, but switch-arm I willvibrate and make and break contact with pin 1 once for each pin G, whichcontacts arm 1 when wheel D moves in the opposite direc tion, (indicatedby arrow 7,) the resiliency of spring I with its outer end between twopins and its inner end attached to boss I, serving to normally hold theswitch-arm I out of contact with pin I and the free end of arm I midwaybetween the limit of its vibrations.

Mounted on a pin attached to frame E and in electrical connectiontherewith is ratchet wheel K, which has a helical spring K attached atone end to the boss thereof and the other end to the pivotal pin, andthe ratchet wheel is limited in its motion when actuated by the sprin tothe normal position by a projection therefrom contacting a pin K Fig. 2.At L is pivotally mounted upon wheel I) in stop-bracket D a pawl whosefree end is adapted to engage the teeth of ratchet-wheel K. At L is aforward projection from pawl L, which contacts the teeth of the wheeland lifts the hook of the pawl. out of engagement with eachratchet-tooth after it has moved the wheel more than the pitch of onetooth. A detent M, Figs. 2 and 8, serves to hold the ratchet-wheel inthe operated position. Attached to the face of ratchet-wheel K are sevenpins which serve as cog-teeth and four of them contact-points forspring-switches P and P. Said wheel, pins, and switches form what weshall call the circuitchanger. Pins N, N, N and N are of metal and inelectrical connection with the frame E through ratchet-wheel K and itspivotal pin, but pins 0, O, and O are of insulating material or are tooshort to contact with springswitches P and P. Spring-switches P and Pare insulatingly attached to frame E. At Q is a bent arm projecting fromdetent M, which is in line with the detent of the telephonehook lever,(indicated by broken lines Q, Fig. 3,) which action releases detent M,when ratchet-wheel K, if it has been moved forwardly, is free to turnback by virtue of spring K to the normal position.

The means for indicating what call has been made and whether thetelephone-exchange is LOO therewith.

in the normal condition consists in this instance of the segment plateR, which is marked with the abreviations and words Tel, Hund, Tens,Units, and Out, and is securely fastened to the front end of shaft R,which is disposed through the axial portion of shaft B and has attachedto the inside end a segment of cogs R which are engaged by the pins N,0, N, N 0', O and N of ratchetwheel K.

The entire front of the finger-hold disk 0 is covered by a case S withthe exception of the right-hand side, where are exposed the finger-holds(3', and at S, where there is an opening through which the abbreviationsand words Tel, Hund, &c., may be seen, successively, as they are broughtinto register The case S projects outwardly sufficient to permit thefinger-holds C to pass in under the front plate of the casing and inunder the segment-plate R in rotating the finger-hold disk, the casingserving as a stop for the finger at the shoulder S Figs. 1 and 4.

To illustrate the application and operation of this calling device in anautomatic telephone exchange system, where each exchange-machine isprovided with a plurality of electromagnets and each of said magnets isadapted to perform a separate function, we will refer to Fig. 14, whichis a diagrammatic view of the calling device in electrical connectionwith an automatic telephone-exchange at a central station, whichexchange is represented by one electromagnet U, adapted to rotate theswitch-shaft V, and another electromagnet U, adapted to slideswitchshaft V longitudinally in the operation of switching, as is donein the electrical exchange embodied in Letters Patent of the UnitedStates, No. 540,168, granted May :28, 1895, to Alexander E. Keith, FrankLundquist, John Erickson, and Charles J. Erickson.

In operating this device when connected with an automatic exchangehaving a plurality of magnets on the decimal system, for instance, it isdesired to set the exchange-machine to communicate withtelephone-exchange machine and telephone No. 456, the operator inserts afinger in contact with fingerhold No. 4, which is pulled down around inthe direction indicated by arrow 7, Fig. 1, until the finger contactsthe shoulder of the case S at S when the finger is withdrawn, whichreleases the fingenhold disk 0 and the connected wheel D, when spring Fwill return the parts to the normal position, but in the meantime thepawl L at the beginning of the motion of wheel D, being in engagementwith ratchet-wheel K, has turned this wheel equal to more than the pitchof one tooth, when detent M drops into engagement behind one of theteeth and holds the wheel in the partiallyturned position after the pawlL is forced to slip off of the engaged tooth by the action of theprojection L thereof, as described, which partial movement ofratchet-wheel K moves contact-pin N around in touch with springswitch Pand causes segment of cogs R to turn an amount equal to the pitch of onetooth, which removes the abbreviation Tel. from the opening S and movesinto its place the abbreviation Hund. During the time the operativeparts are being returned to the normal position the switch-arm I is madeto contact pin I four times, because there are four pins G on wheel Dadapted to strike arm I in this return movement, when current istransmitted four separate times from battery J through wire WV, switchI, thence to contactpin N, spring-switch P and line-wire X, and magnet Uto ground, thus energizing this magnet four times. Next, a finger isinsorted in contact with finger-hold No. 5, which is turned around tothe stop-shoulder S and released when pawlL will have turnedratchet-Wheel K one tooth more, which will bring contact-pin N intocontact with spring switch P and contact-pin N out of contact withspring-switch P and turns segment B one tooth, which moves theabbreviation Hund. from opening S and into its place the word Tens, andduring the time the parts are returning to the normal positionswitch-arm I is made to contact pin I live times by the action of fivepins G, which register with the five finger-holds C from the beginning,whencurrent is transmitted five separate times from battery J throughwire W, pin 1 switch I, thence through frame E to the contact-pin Nspring-switch P, wire Y, and magnet U to ground, thus energizing magnetU five times. N ext a finger is inserted in contact with finger-hold N0.6, which is pulled around to stop shoulder S and released, when in thesame manner as before described ratchet-wheel K is moved around onetooth, which engages contactpin N with spring-switch P and disengagesspring-switch P from contact-pin N and segment-cog R is turned onetooth, which changes the word Tens at opening S to Units, and in thereturn of the operative parts to the normal position switcharm I is madeto contact pin 1 six times, when current is transmitted six separatetimes from battery J through wire WV, switch I, thence to pin N,spring-switch P, wire X,and magnet U to ground, thus again energizingthis magnet, but six times, instead of four times, as in the firstinstance. hen by the action of pawl L the ratchet-wheel K has beenturned around to the hund red-point, any additional manipulation of thefinger-hold disk causes the pawl to turn ratchetwheel K the pitch of onemore tooth, when Out will be substituted for Units at opening S, whichis to indicate that the telephone has been entirely disconnectedelectrically and must be released in order to again be operative, whichrelease is accomplished by hanging up the telephone-receiver on the hookof the usual telephonelever, (shown in broken tion when the word Out.shows at opening S, the stop projection thereon is in such a positionthat it is struck by projection L at each additional thrust of theattached pawl L, which latter is lifted by this action and preventedfrom further operating the ratchetwheel should the finger-hold disk beadditionally manipulated by a careless'operator.

WVe claim as our invention- 1. A transmitter for sending electricimpulses over a plurality of lines comprising a step-by-stepcircuit-breaker to send a series of impulses, a circuit-changer fordirecting the currents over a selected line, and a connection betweenthe circuit-breaker and the circuit changer constructed to actuate thecircuit changer each time that the circuit-breaker is operated throughitscourse,substantially as set forth.

2. The combination of a movable device having a, series of adjacentfinger-holds, a circuit-breaker actuated on movement of the device tosend a number of impulses corresponding to the, selected holds, and asingle stop arranged to contact with the finger in the finger-holds andlimit the movement thereof,

substantially as set forth.

3. The combination,with a circuit-breaker, of a circuit-changer fordirecting the current over different lines, a series of finger-holds,and means for automatically operating the changer each time thefinger-holds are operated, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination,with a circuit'breaker,

of a circuit-changer for directing the current over different lines, aseries of finger-holds, and a stop for automatically limiting the numberof times that the changer may be operated, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination,with a circuit-breaker, of a circuit-changer fordirecting the current over different lines, an indicator, a series ofconsecutively arranged finger holds, and means for operating thecircuit-breaker, the circuit-changer, and the indicator at everyoperation of the finger-holds, substantially as set forth.

6. The combination, with a circuit-changer for directing the currentover different lines, of a circuit-breaker, a series of finger-holds,and means for operating the changer once for each operation of thefinger-holds and means for varying the number of times thecircuitbreaker is operated, substantially as set forth.

7. The combination, with a circuit-changer for directing the currentover different lines, of a circuit-breaker, awheel common to both andprovided with means for operating the changer but once, and the breakera variable number of times each time the wheel is rotated, and means foroperating the wheel, substantially as set forth.

8. The combination, with'a circuit-changer for directing the currentover different lines, of a circuit-breaker, a wheel common to both andprovided with means for operating the changer when rotated in onedirection and the breaker when rotated in the opposite direction, andmeans for operating the wheel, substantially as set forth.

9. In a calling device,the combinatiomwith a disk, the periphery ofwhich is provided with a series of finger-holds, a stop adjacentthereto, of a make-and-break device, two wheels, one of which isprovided with means for operating the other one and also for operatingthe make-and-break device, substantially as set forth.

10. In a calling device, the combination. with a series of finger-holds,of a wheel provided with pins, a portion of said pins being electricconductors,a make-and-break device,

a retarding device, said pins being adapted to simultaneously operatethe retarding device and the make and break, substantially as set forth.

11. In a calling device, the combination, with a series of finger-holds,of a ratchet-wheel and a pin-wheel, a pawl on the pin-wheel adapted toengage with the ratchet-wheel, of a make-and-break device, and twoelectromagnets, either one of which is adapted to be placed in circuitby the rotation of the ratchetwheel, substantially as set forth.

12. In a calling device, the combination, with a series of finger-holds,of a ratchet-wheel provided with pins, contact-points adapted to beengaged by said pins, a make-and-break device, and means for rotatingthe ratchetwheel by the movement of the finger-holds, substantially asset forth.

13. In a calling device, the combination, with a series of finger-holds,of a spring-actuated wheel connected therewith, a ratchetwheel adaptedto be moved one step for each operation of the finger-holds,a detentforholding said ratchet-wheel, a make-and-break device, and means forautomatically releasing the ratchet-wheel by hanging up the transmitterof the telephone, substantially as set forth.

14. In a calling device, the combination, with a series of finger-holds,of a pin-wheel connected therewith, a make-and-break device, andtwopallets, one of which is disconnected from the other when the pinsare moving in one direction but caused to engage therewith when moved bysaid wheel in the opposite direction, substantially as set forth.

15. In a calling device, the combination, with a case, of a disk journaled therein, a portion of the periphery of which is provided havehereunto set our hands, this 11th day of with finger-holds, an indicatorconnected with July, 1896, in the presence of Witnesses. the disk, thetop of the casing being cut away ALEXANDER E. KEITH. at one side to forma stop, and at another JOHN ERIGKSON. point to expose a portion of theindicator, and CHARLES J. EBICKSON. a mekeend-break device,substantially as set forth.

In testimony that We claim the foregoing We WVitnesses:

JOSEPH HARRIS, WM. W. THOMPSON.

